The man clothed in black
by TheTrueWanderer
Summary: If you read a few Fairy Tail fanfics you probably read a Lucy runs away, and comes back years later, stronger than anybody else, right? Well, do you think she got strong herself? or with the aide of somebody else? This story explains that fact. A couple OC
1. Chapter 1: Meeting the man

You probably know about Lucy goes away and comes back super powerful fanfic, and blah, blah, blah. Well, did you ever wonder how she became so powerful, I mean, good luck doing that, without a teacher. So this story is about Lucy and that certain teacher.

It was an ordinary day at Magnolia; sun was shining, birds singing, and a certain guild on the brink of destruction. Well, it would have been, if not for the argument between three friends and a cat. Gray, Natsu and Erza were arguing about what mission to take, as rent was steadily getting closer.

Meanwhile, Lucy was sitting at her usual seat drinking her milkshake. She got up, as it appeared that Natsu had won the argument, same as usual, opting for the most difficult mission with the best pay. She did not know that this time, Natsu bit off more, than even a dragon slayer could chew.

That was the current situation. Team Natsu was now trying their best to save a small town from three rambunctious giants. And then the second Natsu chose to launch his dragon's roar, everything went wrong.

The smallest giant, who up until then, had done nothing while his compatriots fought, released a spell. It was simple enough, it rebounded the fire onto Lucy. Erza jumped and made it almost halfway there, and then a giant's arm came crashing down. With the fire on way, Lucy panicked and summoned all her key's at once, and suddenly Lucy was falling into the black hole she had summoned.

Lucy fell into a room created of nothing, just black everywhere, and she saw Natsu screaming her name, without moving, actually, nothing was moving. She ran towards him, and hit a wall. It appeared she was seeing, simply a scene of the fight.

And then, a man's voice whispered, "_Hello"_

_Sorry this is so short but this is kind of like the intro sooooo..._


	2. Chapter 2: Dunkelheit Kurai

Lucy immediately turned around at the man's voice, seeing a man of average height, she couldn't see much else, as he was clothed in a long black cloak, the only things else she noticed, was short, pale blue hair, as well as a mischievous smile.

She reached down, at ready to summon one of her many spirits, if he chose to engage in combat. At that moment however, she also remembered a little fact, the fact that she kinda dropped her keys when she fell, effectively leaving the man, between herself and her keys.

Well unarmed, she had no choice but to abandon her defensive position, and instead, chose to ask the question,

"_Who are you?"_ and immediately regretting that action.

"_If you're trying to sound like a maiden in love, keep it up, you're doing very well"_ She also felt a sudden and deep hatred for the man wearing black, as the man himself was trying to conceal his laughter, though very unsuccessful.

Prying for answer's Lucy followed up with

"_Where is this place" _The man chose to answer.

"_It's obvious isn't it?"_

"_No"_ The man sighed and then said.

"_You're nowhere" _

"_Nowhere?" _

"_Of course, there's nothing, to your right, there's nothing, to your front, there's nothing, the same with all of the other directions"_

"_If nothing is here, than what about me?"_

"_You're here because you need to be"_

"_Why?"_

"_Because otherwise you'd be dead"_

"_DEAD!?"_

"_Not just you, your friend's as well"_

"_That doesn't explain why I'm here!"_

"_With the exception of me, the only time people were sent here, was to become stronger, which is why the only thing here at Nowhere, is that screen, to remind you"_

"_Remind me of what?"_ Is was at that moment that the man chose not answer, and instead, raised his hand in the manner of a handshake, and offered his own question.

"_I'm Dunkelheit Kurai, nice to meet ya"_

"_Lucy, Heartfilia"_

She took his hand, and shook it. The man took off his hood, subsequently revealing pale, almost white green eyes, his skin was also as pale, and he looked more like some sort of a cross between a ghost and human, than a pure-blooded human.

Lucy thought a moment, before exclaiming with sudden realization.

"_Then why are you here!" _Dunkelheit hesitated before answering.

''_I'd rather not say"_

He made it obvious that that was a forbidden topic.

He effectively ended the conversation as he summoned out of thin air, hundreds of tiny dark blue balls, which accumulated together into a fairly menacing-looking scythe. The scythe was of purplish wood that formed the body, and looked like an infestation, as tendrils and swirls of the plant curled around the blade, which, in itself, was menacing, with a sharp silver point, and the look that it could cut the earth itself if the wielder wasn't paying attention. Noticing her attention Dunkelheit spoke.

"_It is a very beautiful scythe, like it?" _Lucy immediately answered.

"_Yes"_

"_Well?"_

"_Well what?"_

"_Defend yourself"_

"_Why?"_

"_Well, the gate will only open to humans of certain strength."_

"_But my keys are over there, I work celestial magic"_

"_This is about strengthening you, not your spirits"_

"_I-I can't!"_

"_You must, the time freeze that's going on outside, isn't infinite, it's just slowing time down, so in a couple month or so, I can promise you, that at least one of your friend's will die"_

Lucy gulped, the realization seeping in.

"_Well if you don't have weapons, I guess we could do hand to hand, until you can materialize one."_

"_Like ex-quiping?"_

"_If that's what they call in in your world"_

"_My world?"_

"_Train now, questions later" _And with that, the man clothed in black, leaped forward ready to engage in combat.


	3. Chapter 3: The darkest of nights

Two weeks, that's how long Lucy has been stuck here, two weeks, well, according to Dunkelheit, until her friends die. The giants arm was, closer than two weeks ago, it became apparent after a long amount of time. However, Lucy was not worried, other than the fear of her friends dying, she didn't care. After all, training with the man in black, has gone very well.

As she touched her newest scars, she remembered her first training. It was quick, as Dunkelheit moved she was astonished by his grace as she couldn't even move before it was all over. He scoffed, asked if that was all she got, and then drilled her relentlessly about her basic stance.

As she got tired, her adrenaline long since worn off, her companion summoned a bed, clothes, and a screen while giving her a brief explanation, about how he could do almost anything he wanted in that dimension they were both stuck in. This, of course, led into an argument about why he didn't give her a weapon in the first place.

Lucy's train of thought was interrupted by a man's voice.

"_HEAD'S UP_!" As well as a surprise attack which she easily blocked.

The weapon she was using, out of an almost unlimited arsenal, was a silvery blade, with a guard that looked like lace fabricated of snow, there were jewels of many colours embedded in that blade, as well as a handle made of pure silver, straight from a meteorite. It was the meteorite feature that appealed to her the most; it seemed to resonate with her magic itself, magic given from the stars.

They were in a fight so intense, that spark's literally flew from the blades. It seemed to be the fight between chaos and justice itself, with the sword of light and the scythe of darkness intertwining together, it was such a high level fight that even Erza herself wouldn't sniff at it!

The fight ended with a searing blow and harsh words.

"_You're still hundred years too young to fight me" _And an even harsher reply.

"_The why do you keep making me fight!"_

"_Well… um…"_

"_There are other ways!"_

"_They all take too much time, pick up your sword."_

This led to Lucy losing another 20 times.

This, in suit led to Kurai getting beat up.

As Lucy stared at the one screen showing her world, she heard the solemn words of a young man.

"_The brightest of stars can only be seen on the darkest of nights"_

She then resolved that no matter the cost, she would stop at nothing to save her friend's. That was a decision that she would eventually end up regretting.


	4. Chapter 4: Leaving Nowhere

Lucy continued her training for another week. No matter how annoying he was, Dunkelheit was a good trainer. She had definitely gotten stronger, the day before, he even gave her back her keys, though he told her not to use them yet.

She had gotten used to life in Nowhere, with the food that tasted like nothing, while giving her plenty of energy, the cloth that gave her just enough heat to avoid the cold.

She was no longer wearing her earthen clothes, as she was told that a skirt would impede her training, she was now wearing a t-shirt and jeans, in black like all of the clothes from Nowhere. Which, also explained Kurai's black garb.

She was approached by the before mentioned man.

"_You're stronger than before, you should try the gate"_

The gate was how he revered to the portal that she took to get to Nowhere, and the one that supposedly could take her back.

"_Are you coming too?"_

"_No"_

Was the answer he gave without hesitation.

"_I already explained the fact that I cannot follow through the gate_"

Followed by a push which sent her flying into the gate. No matter how stronger she had got over the past few weeks, she had still yet to defeat him. With a backwards glance she managed to see time on the screen restart, and hear a single word.

"_Goodbye"_

And with that, she left Nowhere, and the man clothed in black.


	5. Chapter 5: Recovering

As Lucy appeared in the plain where she had left about a month ago. Well, at least for her. The first thing she noticed was that her blade and clothesfrom Nowhere were gone; her clothes replaced with what she was wearing when she first went to Nowhere it appeared that things from Nowhere, must stay in Nowhere. The second was, the fireball heading towards her. She dodged it quite easily.

The current problem was her lack of weapons. She scanned the area and noticed a sword that must have fallen over there when Erza was hit. She leapt, grabbed the sword, and immediately slashed off the arm of the giant attacking her.

As she leapt up the handless arm, she noticed how inconvenient skirts were after wearing jeans for so long. She slayed the giant, and needless to say, ended the life of the other two. She felt bad, but then remembered Erza. The wound wasn't too bad, but she still needed to be treated quickly to avoid infection.

She looked at the other two members of teams Natsu who were looking at her with stunned expressions.

"_Lucy…What happened there…" _Her response elicited an even more surprised Natsu and Gray.

"_Later, we need to help Erza first, you guys go ahead, I'll bring her"_

They quickly left. Lucy lifted Erza onto her shoulders and ran.

Erza was fine. She just sprained her ankles while stopping the fall. As soon as she woke up, Lucy explained her story, they doubted her at first, but eventually gave in to the story, after her performance against the giant's.

It was a long journey back to the guild; they encountered a few thieves who got destroyed. The guild was skeptical, enter she defeated the stronger members. The biggest surprise was when she summoned her spirits, she now had enough strength to summon all of them at once.

She told them the story, until Leo interrupted.

"_Dunkelheit… wasn't he that guy that came to the King's place"_

Lucy's response was immediate.

"_Huh!"_

Virgo quickly answered

"_Oh right, that guy, the old man's friend"_

"_Wasn't he assigned that piece of land inside a black hole, Nowhere, if I recall correctly"_

"_He lives in a black hole!"_

She then noticed that Leo left. Soon followed by the rest of her spirits. She wondered why they left. Natsu immediately sneak attacked her.

"_Die!"_

She blocked, breaking the blade she was currently using. She wished she still had her blade from Nowhere, which she baptized _Eclipse_. So, she was forced to dodge the rest of the attacks, jumping to Natsu's back and hitting him in the back of his neck, a trick she learned from Dunkelheid.

Her new attire, after the incident with the Giant's was a gray t-shirt, with a pink bow attached to a white skull, and your ordinary blue jean.

The only change in her life was that she needed to buy many swords, since she broke rather easily. She now went shopping with Erza just as much as with Levy. This obviously threw her in deeper debt.

She didn't see any of her spirits until morning. Virgo was cooking breakfast, when Leo barged in, carrying a rectangular bundle of white cloth in his arms.

He gave it to her with his usual _my lady_ and dispeared. She unwrapped revealing her sword _Eclipse._


	6. Chapter 6: Ending the beginning

Times have changed. Lucy is now a S-ranked mage. The last she heard from the man in black was a letter. Send three days after her sword _Eclipse_.

Inside he wrote;

_Dear Heartfilia,_

_I hope you're having fun. Train hard. If we ever meet again, I would like to see how far you have progressed. Inside is a book, never read it. It contains your future, dreams, and ambitions. Burn it. You should never follow any paths, not even fate itself. Your power is a hammer, a power that will let you break free from any pathes._

_Goodbye._

_From the man clothed in black._

That was the last she heard of him for five years.


	7. Chapter 7: The woman in white

Five years have passed, since the day Lucy received the letter with the book. The book remained on her bookshelf, the warning forgotten. It was a mistake, as Lucy would soon find out.

The guild of Fairy Tail, never really changed, there are some new members, and the old members are, well, older. A few more nefarious plots plotted, and a few more nefarious plots stopped. Nothing really changed, except the existence of a certain Heartfilia.

For you see, there was another denizen of Nowhere. Another denizen, and the reason why the Man in black stayed in Nowhere. For the Man himself was dead. But as that is a story for another time it shall be told another time.

But as I was saying, a strange, door of some sort, appeared out of Nowhere. And notice, how I say Nowhere with a capital rather than nowhere without one. And out of that door walked a woman, and as soon as she walked out, you could tell that she was unfamiliar in these parts. But as she took off her coat, of a blinding white, you could see that she had pale, greenish eyes, and hair of a white blue. She certainly resembled the man this tale is named after, but her smile, unlike Dunkelheit's was malicious and as bone chilling as ice.

She walked to past a bridge, to an apartment building, and not unlike a pink-haired companion, climbed into the apartment. She found a book with a letter, and opened the book.


End file.
